WHERE'S THE ART?....5/15/23

During a months long road trip around the country a few years ago, my wife and I visited a number of modern art museums. More often than not when viewing a particular piece, I would ask myself, “how did they come up with that?”

Other times I would stare at something in disbelief, like the stack of unfinished 4 x 4’s that looked like they had just been pulled out of the dumpster at a construction site.

Then there was the piece of nicely framed fir plywood with a couple of prominent “boat patches” in it, which are designed to replace knots inherent in the wood when the plywood is made.

Having worked with lumber and plywood most of my adult life, it’s easy to take this material for granted and wondered where the art was.

It was then I realized - it’s everywhere - whether it’s an old barn, a custom made piece of furniture, a silver bracelet, a vintage car, a floral arrangement, or a chunk of plywood called “Golden Knots” hung on a wall in a museum, challenging our assumptions.